Classics
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The Waves by Virginia Woolf
“Like a ribbon of weed I am flung far every time the door opens. The wave breaks. I am the foam that sweeps and fills the uttermost rims of the rocks with whiteness; I am also a girl, here in this room.” Beautiful. Lyrical. Nostalgic. Devastating. Bittersweet. The Waves follows a group of friends from Continue reading
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Tortilla Flat and The Pearl by John Steinbeck
Steinbeck feels like such a summer author to me. This summer I read two of his novels: Tortilla Flat (1935) and The Pearl (1947). Although these aren’t my favorite Steinbeck novels that I’ve read so far — I just didn’t connect with the characters or story as much as I did when reading East of Continue reading
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Shirley by Charlotte Brontë
“If you think, from this prelude, that anything like a romance is preparing for you, reader, you never were more mistaken.” Jane Eyre is likely the most popular Charlotte Brontë novel, and perhaps for good reason: it has an iconic romance and main character, it is brilliantly told, and it raises so many interesting themes Continue reading
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Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
“Anna read and understood everything, but she found no pleasure in reading, that is to say, in following the reflection of other people’s lives. She was too eager to live herself.” What an incredible, incredible novel. I’d been intimidated by Anna Karenina for years, despite reading Tolstoy’s tome War and Peace a few summers back Continue reading
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Top ten books of 2022
I’m so grateful to have had a lovely reading year in 2022. Narrowing down a list of ten favorite books was difficult, but these are the ones that have stuck with me the most over the course of the past year. Here they are, in the order that I read them: 1. East of Eden Continue reading
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Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
“It is the hour of the pearl–the interval between day and night when time stops and examines itself.” I’m obsessed with the atmosphere Steinbeck created in Cannery Row. It’s a sort of liminal space where thoughts, hopes, and dreams can run wild and judgment dissipates, if only for a brief while. I read this book Continue reading
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November reading plans
My October was filled with cozy, spooky reads, from Frankenstein and The Scarlet Letter to Practical Magic and everything in between. I embraced reading seasonally and loved how much more connected it made me feel to autumn. I hope to read similarly in November. November has always felt like a sort of resting period to Continue reading
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The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
“No, no–there are depths, depths! The more I go over it, the more I see in it, and the more I see in it, the more I fear. I don’t know what I don’t see–what I don’t fear!” The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is such an underrated, under-appreciated autumnal read. This book Continue reading
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On reading seasonally
This fall I’ve been making a conscious effort to read seasonally, leaning into the moody, spooky, witchy vibes that these cooler months bring. And I’ve loved it. I’ve always been a mood reader, someone who reads based on whatever feelings I’m experiencing or craving. Yet for some reason, I’ve only occasionally synched up what I’m Continue reading
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The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
“She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom.” I didn’t remember much about my first time reading Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter years ago. I recalled a bit of dense writing, a picturesque Salem setting, and the piercing image of Hester standing on the scaffold, emblazoned with an embroidered “A.” I began this Continue reading
About ME //
i’m holly — former english major, current twenty-something book lover, allergic to nuts. drop me a line at nutfreenerd@gmail.com or on instagram.
nut free nerd 